As a forensic identification specialist with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Erika Di Palma, MFS ’07, can start her day at the scene of a burglary, where she might be examining shards of broken glass or fibers of carpet for drops of blood. Before lunch, she may be on the scene of a car theft, taking tire track impressions in the dirt. And when the rest of the city is asleep, she could be surrounded by yellow police tape and swirling squad car lights as she searches for fingerprints in a murder investigation.
Covering a jurisdiction that stretches for two hours in every direction from downtown L.A., Di Palma—whose master’s degree is in forensic sciences—has investigated over 200 major crime scenes in the last seven years. “In some cities, you see one or two homicides a year,” she said. “We get that every day.”
It was following a particularly demanding week, one in which she was involved in investigating a high number of homicides, that Di Palma stumbled upon a way to channel her stress and professional knowledge into a cottage industry. While out on a hike—and with fingerprints relentlessly dancing in her head—she noticed a pair of hikers in track suits. “I thought to myself: You know what would be cool? What if you could put your fingerprints on your clothes? Now that would make a statement.”